Family of the Cloak: Looking Back
by Sweets5236
Summary: When Harry Potter finds his memories plaguing his dreams, the search for Dumbledore's pensieve begins. The only problem is that once he inserts his memories, Albus Severus stumbles upon it. From the "Family of the Cloak" world.
1. Needing Something Helpful

Harry Potter was in need of something. No it was not a want, a _need_. This something was…special and rather tricky to find might I add. At some point in time the magical item was plentiful, found in most wizard homes, but now the need for them slowly disappeared and they disappeared along with it.

Harry Potter was in need of a pensieve. He needed that silver bowl that could harness ones' memories. For you see, Harry Potter had started awakening in the middle of the night after reliving all the horrors he had ever seen, all of them.

Perhaps this was because his work at the Auror's Office was becoming more brutal and times were worsening as they once did in his teens. It was likely that the fear that everything would be repeated blew in the memories like an unwanted storm.

His wife, Ginny, told him matter-of-factly one day that the only way to possibly get rid of the memories was to erase, or dispose, of them. Her voice had been sarcastic though, trying to make him see sense. He didn't want to forget the memories no matter how horrible they were…he just wanted the shattering feelings that came with them to disappear.

Seeing his godfather die before his eyes every other night and revisiting that awful day when almost everyone he cared about died was unpleasant to say the very least. The Battle of Hogwarts on May 2nd was easily the worst of his memories. Those bone-chilling nights camping with no food, looking for horcruxes was a close second.

A look back at a conversation he once had with Professor Dumbledore told him that putting memories into a pensieve kept them safe and protected, but left them dimmed and less vibrant in the mind of its owner. Like paint being diluted with water. Harry wanted this more than anything.

This is how his search began, this search for the famous pensieve from Dumbledore's office, which was the only known one left. He wanted the same pensieve that told him the answer to his problems, or more specifically, the answer to the downfall of the Dark Lord. Even 15 years later with three wonderful children, the memories pained him and left a shadow on his life, forever looming and rearing its head in his face.

If one looked at Harry on the outside, they wouldn't see the pain he was suffering through, he could bring a smile to everyone's face. On the inside though, they were ALWAYS in the back of his mind, nagging him and making him remember how many people gave their lives because they wanted to protect him.

In the daytime, he went to work and put his sorrow into capturing stray Death Eaters. When he came home, he hid it behind the barrier that Occlumency had given him. His family was the only thing that got his mind off of it. His children, along with Ginny, lit up his face and thoughts as soon as he saw them.

Harry was amazingly proud of his family and he didn't want his past to affect the way he acted around them. After holding it in for 15 years it was starting to show, slowly seeping through the cracks. Ginny had noticed it for quite some time, but only now was she bringing it up. She begged him to tell her what was wrong and it became routine to say, "Gin, I'm fine…when I'm ready to show you…I will".

The urgency of the situation changed when his "Fire Top" a.k.a his daughter Lily approached him about his situation one sunny Saturday.

"Hello Daddy." She said hesitantly in that innocent little six-year-old voice only she could have.

"Hello Fire Top" Harry replied, not really paying attention. His gaze was instead focused on the newspaper in his hands. Lily giggled at her family's name for her and continued.

"You have been looking really sad…did James put something in your pumpkin juice again?" she asked, peaking up through her red eyelashes. Those hazel orbs seemed to x-ray him.

"No Fire Top…" Harry said chuckling, "James didn't put something in my juice again." As Harry said it James walked into the room.

"Did someone say my name?" he asked plopping down next to Lily on the ground and ruffling her rosy-red hair.

Lily Luna had not the hair of a Weasley, but the same hair as Lily Potter did. It was that dark, deep, and richer color that was easily set apart from the fiery orange of the Weasley clan. Those who knew Lily Potter said that Harry's daughter would grow up to look a lot like her, with different eyes of course.

Fire Top's demeanor matched that of Harry's mother too. While she was an angel, it took very little to light the flame that was her blazing temper. The upside of this attitude was that Lily Luna often good angry for good reasons like when Teddy made Hugo cry or Fred and James turned Auntie Fleur's hair purple.

"Daddy's sad" Lily replied looking at her brother and frowning slightly.

"Oh" said James looking at the carpeted floor awkwardly. Sometimes the honesty of a child so young was a bit taxing.

Albus, who was in the corner of the room, looked up from his (very thick) book with his green eyes that matched that of his dad. He scanned his father's face with scrutiny and took notice of the bags under Harry's eyes and how the man had barely stood that Saturday.

"He's tired Lils…maybe it was a nightmare." Albus replied casually looking back to his book.

Harry looked up at his middle child in shock…how could Al know about his nightmares? He was so careful to hide them from the children. Nevertheless if anyone were to find out about them it would be Albus Severus who had knowledge that could one day mirror that of his namesake.

"Al, what do you mean?" James asked, surprised his 10-year-old brother figured something out before he did.

Albus looked at his father with that same unwavering gaze as he made a list of things in his head that pointed him to his hypothesis.

"Well, what would cause lack of sleep? It's generally insomnia, sickness, or excitement. Seeing as dad hasn't likely encountered those things, the only options left would be nightmares, which seem likely after some of the stories I've heard from Uncle Ron." He concluded pushing his glasses a bit farther up on the bridge of his nose.

Lily and James just stared at Al after they heard what he had to say with dumbstruck gazes. How could one 10-year-old know so much? It sure made James, a soon-to-be second year at Hogwarts, feel rather incompetent. Even Harry was shocked.

After a few minutes James turned to look at his dad with a questioning look.

"Really?"

"James, yes I had a nightmare last night so I didn't get any sleep. I'm fine though they will go away soon. There is no need to worry," he replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

James looked at his father skeptically while Lily accepted the answer and skipped off to play "Hogwarts" with her dolls. Albus didn't even hear his father's response though for he was in a particularly good spot in his book. Harry found this lucky for if Al was listening, he would have probably found some way to contradict him.

Harry got up out of his chair and left a note for a napping Ginny that said he was leaving and would. If his kids had noticed, it had gone too far. "This pensieve needs to be found" he thought as he dissaperated to Hogwarts to speak with Professor McGonagall about it.

**##########**

**A/N Please Review! I'll appreciate anything you'd like to say :)**

**-Sweets5236**


	2. Answer to my Sorrow

Minerva McGonagall was a very punctual woman. Be late for an appointment and she would chastise you as soon as you arrived. Miss an appointment and she would arrive on your doorstep the next morning to chastise you. Come to her without an appointment and she would send you home to make one even if she wasn't busy.

Her methods made the world go around…well; it at least provided that stability Hogwarts needed. She was getting old and she wasn't afraid to admit it either. Her theory was that without punctuality she would have been dead years ago.

When Harry Potter burst through the mahogany doors of her office, she had to rethink her usual methods. It wasn't often when she was left speechless. Something like catching Lily Evans and James Potter snogging during their rounds back in the day did that sort of thing, yet seeing their son in the state he was in came awfully close.

His grey button-up was wrinkled and creased with several of the buttons done the wrong way. Purple bags hung under his eyes and his hair was five times its usual mess, which was saying a lot because Professor McGonagall didn't think that was possible.

Her motherly instincts gained from teaching prompted her to run to his side and transfigure another chair; he collapsed into it as soon as it was made available.

"Harry? Harry what's wrong?" She asked letting her stern tone slide for the moment.

Harry froze and squeezed his eyes shut. He took several extremely deep breaths and twiddled his wand to occupy his fingers. He looked up to see his old Transfiguration teacher with a look of worry on her face.

"It's not everyday you see a 32-year-old crying is it Professor?" he asked, trying to ease the tension.

The boy was indeed close to tears obviously, his eyes red-rimmed and a bit sparkly from unshed tears, but he wasn't there yet. Professor McGonagall gave him a small smile and conjured up another chair next to him so that they wouldn't have to walk up to her desk.

"Well Mr. Potter, it isn't everyday that you see "The Chosen One" crying either…now tell me, whatever is the matter boy?"

Harry sighed, contemplating the best thing to say. Several scenarios ran through his head and the pros and cons accompanied them. This method was result of being an auror for some twenty plus years. At the moment his thoughts were so jumble din his head it would take quite a while to sort them out. The most troubling thought was that his kids noticed and that Albus knew! That reappeared in his mind every time he was close to saying something.

"They're getting to me Professor, even my Fire Top noticed!"

She almost smiled at Potter's pet name for his daughter. She had only see Lily Luna use her temper in her presence once and it was quite a sight. If she recalled correctly it had been because James had taken her stuffed animal, Padfoot, who was a replica of Sirius Black's animagus. Nevertheless, the mention of Lily didn't offer any clarity on the situation.

Harry had been visiting the school more often then usual in the past few months. Perhaps he was finally going to five a reason. Harry Potter was the mast at being inconspicuous. She figured you needed that skill to infiltrate the ministry and successfully break into a Gringott's vault. He may be highly skilled and unbeatable out on the field, but nothing escaped her sight.

Seeing the Professor's confusion, Harry realized he had never actually told her what was getting to him. That was probably an important part of his visit, he concluded almost sarcastically in his head.

"I…I have been having dreams Professor."

"That's actually quite normal Potter" she replied.

"No, they are so much more _real_. They happen every night now and…I'm actually able to remember them after I wake up. They're…different,"

"How so?"

"They aren't normal dreams Professor…" Harry was cut off as she replied,

"Harry you aren't a student any more, feel free to call me Minerva"

"Um, okay…Minerva…these dreams, they're like a movie reel in my head that is constantly repeating _over _and _over._ They are memories of Sirius dying, of Tom Riddle coming out of the diary in the Chamber, of that night at the graveyard, of looking for horcruxes, EVERYTHING. Bad things have happened to me and this dreams are coming to the point where I'm almost scared to fall asleep…" he said choking on his words, his limbs quivering, "Every night, I see my friends die, I see Remus and Tonks, Colin, Fred…I see them all die right before my eyes."

Minerva thought through the situation as was practical. She couldn't imagine having that happen every night. Of course while the wounds had been fresh, she had the occasional nightmare, but 15 years later? And Potter was making it sound like the equivalent to the real world instead of the usual hazy, colorless, dream.

"I am very sorry Harry. However, I'm not quite sure would you would like _me_ to do about it,"

Harry looked over, "There is only one thing I can think of at this point, Professor," he said, forgetting to use her name as she had said.

"Minerva, you know what he wants. I think now is the time to give it to him." This voice was from the portrait of Professor Dumbledore, if anyone knew what to do, it would surely be him.

"Very well then, but are you sure Albus?"

"Yes, I am quite sure"

Minerva nodded and walked over to a small closet in the office. From that closet she pulled out one of the only pensieve known to man. It made sense now. It made sense why Harry would search her office and why he never felt like he could ask for it. The pensieve would indeed fix his problems, but it was a very rare thing and Potter was very lucky that he should be the one to get it.

Minerva was secretly hoping that Albus would give it to her when the time came that she needed to retire, now she realized Harry needed it much more than she ever would. Perhaps Dumbledore even knew he would need it in advance, intuition was one of his fortes.

"Thank you so, so much, professor. You have no idea what his means" he genuinely said, not taking his eyes off the object as if it would disappear as soon as he did.

"Better do it now, Harry." She advised eyeing his enthusiasm.

"Sorry Professor, but I think I will wait until I get home, I want to be with Ginny,"

"Does she understand?"

"Not quite, professor, she will soon enough,"

"Good decision" she replied with a nod.

Harry smiled graciously at the Professor once more and quietly exited the room. In his arms, was the answer to his sorrow. In his arms was the thing that would save him.

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>Yay! Second chapter is up! Please review :)<strong>


	3. Memories of a Life Time

Wake Harry, wake the children, eat breakfast, clean, read, make dinner, clean, go to bed. Ginny Potter's routine was like clockwork during the summer. Once she thought about it, it was pretty much the same during the school year to. Her home life was boring to say the least when Harry wasn't home. She had actually been looking forward to Harry's day off, but as soon as she came downstairs she found a note saying he went to Hogwarts…again. An attachment to the school was fine enough, but this might a bit of an obsession.

Ginny was really starting to worry about Harry at this point. According to him, these nightmares have been a reoccurring thing. He also refused to tell her what they were about. Obviously it is something personal, but all Ginny wanted to do was help him.

Right as she was about to throw her hands up and scream at the world like in those muggle soap operas her mum used to watch, Harry walked in looking like a whole new man. His hair was still a mess and the bags under his eyes were still there, but those eyes sparkled like they used to and his grin was bigger then she had seen in a long time. In his arms, was Dumbledore's famous pensieve.

########## 

Albus stretched his limbs to their capacity, reveling in the feeling. He was always noticeably tired after he read…his father said he got it from his mum. The only thing Harry read were status reports and the occasional bedtime story for Lily, so he was probably right.

Thinking of his dad made Al's head hurt sometimes. Harry Potter had been through so much and it seemed like the rest of the world knew more about him than his own family. In all the books he read that mentioned his father, they always contained bravery and swift escapes out of danger's clutches. But why was it his dad that was in the stories?

Al knew his dad helped defeat Voldemort, but he felt there was something more to it. At the time he was only 17! Why did the world expect him to do it?

Harry Potter was a very private man, so private that he never even told his child what exactly he did to be famous. He would answer their questions, but he always was a bit vague, as if he was leaving out the important parts.

When they were little he and James were convinced that he was famous because he made great pancakes, what else would it be? Eventually he told them he had "helped" fight a wizard who was hurting other wizards. He didn't tell him how serious this wizard war had been or how many people in their family had died because of it.

When Al was little he had only heard a few stories about his father's life. Those few stories contained the tale of Harry's parents (only up to when they graduated from Hogwarts), the story of Remus Lupin, Teddy's father, and the time that the Golden Trio had ridden a dragon. That story was one that Uncle Ron told him. Albus never knew WHY they were riding a dragon, but he never asked because he was sure they would give him some kind of excuse.

Al's favorite story was about Sirius Black. The man who stayed sane in Azkaban prison for 13 years just so that he could one-day escape and save his father. Sirius was an animagus, so he turned into a dog and slipped through the bars to freedom and ran off to find Harry. Although he was innocent, only Harry and the Order knew so he flew away into hiding on a hippogriff. It was a story of adventure and friendship, Al's favorite genres. Al used to ask his father were Sirius was now and Harry simply said, "He passed away". What interested Albus was how…how did Harry's godfather pass away? Why was he accused guilty? What was he accused guilty for?

As all these thoughts ran through Albus's head, his curiosity grew to its capacity, which was never good because he usually did something stupid when he was curious.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard the heavy footfalls of his father, and a door closing behind him. Albus was awakened from his hurried thought and stood up quickly, giving him the need to hold onto the bookshelf as the blood rushed to his head

Albus ran into the kitchen to see Harry with the biggest smile he had every seen on his face. In his arms was a large, shallow bowl. Hi mum was looking at it with interest and a bit of confusion.

"Is…Is that…" she started.

"Yes, it is Ginny! Everything will be okay,"

"Wait Harry…" Ginny's face lit up with realization. She then turned her head to see Albus standing in the doorway.

"Honey, lets take the kids to Ron's house, okay?"

"Okay…Al, go get James and Lily…tell them you guys are going to Rose and Hugo's house." Harry said, speaking to Albus, who he had just noticed was there.

"Why?" He asked. Harry bent down next to Albus and looked into the eyes that were a copy of his own.

"Al, I'm sorry, your daddy's having a hard time and I just need to talk to mummy alone for a little while…one day, you'll understand."

If there was one things Al hated, it was that phrase. If he had a nickel for every time he heard it, he'd surely be rich by now. Nevertheless, Albus nodded his head slowly. His father was right though. One day he would understand, hopefully. Promising himself that he would find out what was happening, Albus raced up the stairs to find his siblings.

Lily was in her room with two of her stuffed animals in her hands (a black dog and a stag, the wolf toy she had was sitting in a chair she had made out of a shoe box)

"Hello Prongs" She said in a deep voice.

"Hi Padfoot! Want to go and see Moony?" She said changing her voice slightly.

"Yeah! Lets go!" She said moving back to the original gruff voice.

She moved her animals as if they were walking and had them stop in front of the wolf in the chair. Al smiled. Lily loved her stuffed animals. Her father gave them to her a year ago for Lily's birthday.

When she received them, her hazel eyes lit up, Ginny had always said Lily's eyes could out shine the stars. When Harry passed the toy animals he told her each of their names (Prongs for the stag, Padfoot for the black dog, and Moony for the wolf) along with the fact that they are very special and should be played with nicely. Albus remembered how Ginny was almost crying as Harry gave their daughter the gift.

"Lils?"

"What?" Lily said, not taking her eyes off the toys.

"Do you want to go to Rosie's house?" He said using his cousin's pet name.

"Oooooooooo, yeah!" she said getting up and running out of the room, leaving her stuffed animals behind. A few moments late she ran back in with a look of despair on her face.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me!" She said dramatically while scooping her animals up into her arms.

"That's okay Lily, We love you!" She said in a different voice that must have belonged to Moony. Lily smiled and skipped back downstairs.

Albus then walked over to James's room where he could hear a small explosion come from inside. Getting James downstairs would be a bit more difficult. Blackmail might be his best option.

Another problem was getting James downstairs without him asking any questions that Al didn't have the answers to. He captiously knocked on the door only to hear another explosion. A few seconds later he heard a quiet, "Who is it?" in a too innocent to be true voice.

"James quit the act, its me" Al said getting annoyed.

James then opened the door and found himself being shoved back into the room by Albus who followed him in and shut the door behind them.

"What was that for?"

"You don't want mom and dad to see you, do you?"

"No" said James looking at the floor.

Albus was the only one who could make him feel the least bit guilty. This time James's eyebrows were singed off and his hair was sticking up at all angles covered in soot. Al turned his head to see that one of James's walls was halfway demolished. Albus sighed and turned to face his brother.

"I'll call Uncle George later to come and fix it." Uncle George was the only one who wouldn't tattle on James for doing something bad…most of the time he encouraged it.

"Go downstairs…we are going to Rose and Hugo's…don't ask why or else I'll tell mom and dad you blew up your room for the second time this week" Albus said menacingly.

James knew Al meant business so he ran into the bathroom, washed his hair and ran downstairs.

"What happened to your eyebrows?" Harry said, trying not to laugh as he saw his son come down the stairs.

"Uhhhhhh…Nothing"

"Sure, whatever you say…go stand by the fireplace with Lily, mom will take you guys over all at once."

"Can't I go by myself?"

"No, we don't want you going to Uncle Georges like you tried to do last time." Harry responded chuckling.

"Wow" James thought, "Dad must be in a really good mood."

"Okay boys, everyone into the fire place," said Ginny, interrupting his thoughts. She quickly expanded it so that they could all slip in. Harry walked over and gave each of his children a hug.

"Have fun at Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's house!" He said as Ginny tried to flatten down Albus and James's hair.

"Ginny, it's a lost cause." He said smiling, "Oh and Lily, keep your brothers out of trouble for me okay?" Lily nodded her head excited for some form of responsibility.

"Okay is everybody ready?" asked Ginny.

"WAIT! DADDY FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO PRONGS AND MOONY AND PADFOOT!" screamed a frantic Lily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Bye Prongs, Padfoot, and Moony." Harry said waving to the stuffed animals in Lily's arms. Lily smiled and grabbed onto her mothers hand, careful not to drop her animals.

"Ron Weasley's house" Ginny yelled. The 4 family members disappeared in a puff of green smoke with the usual vacuum sound that Harry was used to.

############

Ginny gingerly stepped out of Ron and Hermione's fireplace and into their living room, careful not to get soot on he floor.

"RON! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Hello Ginny. Hi Al, James, and Lily" said a calm Hermione from the doorway.

"What's goin' on?" Ron said as he stepped into the room, it looked as if he had just awoken from a nap.

"Ummm…Kids, go find Rosie and Hugo." Ginny said nervously.

She really didn't know the best way to explain it to the Weasley's with the children in the room. Two of the three kids ran off, but Al lingered a little longer, taking his time, eyeing her skeptically. Ginny, knowing that Al was too curious for his own good, waited patiently until he left the room in defeat.

"Well, we were wondering if you could watch the children for a few hours…you see…its Harry. Hermione, you know how I told you he's been acting weird?" Hermione nodded her head as Ginny spoke.

"He went to Hogwarts again, but this time he came back with something." Ginny said.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Dumbledore's pensieve." Ron and Hermione grew puzzled looks on their faces

"The pensieve? Why the heck would he need that?" asked Ron.

A look at Hermione and Ginny could almost see the gears turning in her head. Suddenly, her face paled and she held tightly onto Ron's arm for support. Obviously she had pieced the puzzled together.

" Hermione, what is it? What's wrong?" said Ron, pushing her into the nearest couch.

"Poor Harry! He must be going through it all over again," she said breathlessly, staring at the floor.

The thought of what Harry must be going through scared Hermione a great deal. She knew he must have been having nightmares about it every night. It had been 15 years! Why now?

"Hermione…what's wrong! I want to help!" said Ginny, knowing deep down that Hermione wouldn't really tell her.

"I…I'm sorry Ginny, Harry will have to tell you himself." Hermione said strictly, standing up and brushing her skirt off. Her face was still pale, but her eyes were full of resolve.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure I can figure it out," Said a determined Ginny. She got up and walked into the Weasley's fireplace.

"Potter Manor!" and she was gone in an instant. Ron turned and looked at his wife who was staring at the ground.

"Mione, please tell me…" he begged. Hermione looked up and frowned.

"Ron, Harry, has been going through something that happens to a lot of people when something bad has happened in their lives. This thing usually happens when dementors confront them though. They relive the worst memories of their lives. With Harry, all his memories must have had such a big impact, that he doesn't need a dementor to relive them…" Hermione could tell that Ron was catching on for his face got paler and paler with every word she spoke.

"Is that why he got the pensieve? To, get rid of his memories?" Ron asked.

"No, the pensieve won't get rid of them, it will just age them in a way. It will make them like they should have been after 15 years." She paused for a moment, "Ron, imagine having to see your friends die before your eyes every night! Do you have any idea how barbaric that is?"

"Hermione…it will be okay now, won't it?" Ron said in a whisper. Neither of the Weasley's noticed when Albus ran back upstairs after hearing the whole thing.


	4. Side by Side

**Disclaimer: It pains me to admit that I don't own Harry Potter**

**Edited: June 5, 2012**

**Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to yukikiralacus and Cassia4u for being my first reviewers for this story! Thank you!**

**##########**

**** Harry sat in the leather La-Z-Boy in his living room. He pulled the leaver to recline the chair and layback in peace, the soft chair molding around him. He had to admit, those muggles had good taste in comfortable furniture.

His numerous thoughts were flying all over the place; today that was a good thing. He still couldn't believe it…it was going to be over. He grinned giddily. No more nightmares…no more reliving those awful moments. Finally he would be able to receive more then two hours of sleep and those awful purple bags under his eyes would disappear. Every since the nightmares his hair had been messier too (and he hadn't thought that possible). Perhaps now it would tone back down to its usual tangles

He stood up as he heard that swishing noise that came from flooing and walked over to his wife, grinning from ear to ear.

"It's all over Ginny!" he said with laughter in his voice. He picked her up and spun her around.

"Yes, of course, Harry. It's absolutely brilliant!" she exclaimed, a bit flustered "I'm just a bit confused as to _why_ it's so brilliant,"

"Ah yes, I'm not surprised. How did Hermione take it?" He said, his face going grim again.

"She was rather shaky…how'd you know she'd figure it out?" Ginny said, starting to get frustrated.

"Well of course she would, Hermione's a smart one, but you knew that. Follow me" he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs into their bedroom.

The sun was shining brightly through the windows and it made the room look happy and bright. Ginny really loved their room. It was spacious and close to the children's rooms. Plus, Harry had let her design it. With Hermione's help, the boring white space turned into the place Ginny spent most of her time in.

That time was spent reading or talking to Harry and was a pleasant escape from the world. She snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Harry who had gotten down onto the floor and was looking under their dresser.

She bit her lip and rested her weight on her right leg. Harry always said that it was her thinking pose. In some ways it was, she was certainly thinking at the moment. She saw him press something on the bottom and her curiosity grew.

"James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna" at the words Harry whispered a small compartment popped open and floated up to Harry when he stood.

Finally unable to resist, Ginny walked over to hum, setting a hand on his arm. In the little drawer she saw Harry's prized photo album with the picture of his parents. It was slightly worn, that gave it character. Several times Harry had added pages to the back in order to put in more recent pictures. At this point the book held the story of Harry's live.

His invisibility cloak, his first snitch, and the Marauder's Map sat underneath the album. He lifted them all out and placed them on his bed, looking over each one individually. Each item had a significant story that accompanied it.

The cloak was a part of Harry. The only time he wouldn't carry it around in his pocket was when he was home from work. Even then he usually had it near by. Ginny wasn't surprised though; who knew how many times that cloak had saved his life.

Harry had once let it slip to her that it was the legendary cloak from the Tale of the Three Brothers. She had had her suspicions, but never guessed that far. This lead him to explain the Deathly Hallows and she received a further glimpse into his life traveling with Ron and Hermione in their seventh year. He also let her know that he had once been the master of all of them though the cloak was the only one he had left.

Next she saw him pull out the pensieve. It really was really a quite beautiful object. It was long and very shallow and it was a shiny silver color. The inside was a dark black, almost the exact shade of Harry's messy Potter hair. The simplicity of it was what made it so pretty. Ginny had never actually seen it before, but she knew Harry had taken many trips into it during his sixth year.

Now matter what Harry had told her about his school years, there was always an important piece missing. When he told her of his sixth year adventures, he left out _why_ he had to enter the pensieve. That had always been something that struck her interest.

She looked up at Harry and saw pure joy on his face for a few moments, but then it faltered, only flickered actually.

"Harry? Are you okay?" she said as she sat down next to him on the bed, rubbing his arm.

"Those dreams I have been having…they're the closest thing to my connection with Riddle in a long time." He said slowly.

Ginny nodded. Dreams…or nightmares. That's what this was about. The dots had all been connected. No wonder Hermione had been so frazzled by the thought of it. Of course there had been times when Ginny had woken up to see Harry sitting on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands. She would rub his back and murmur words of comfort to him, never really knowing what the nightmare had been about.

It made sense now. Based off the pensieve, his dreams were memories. No matter how awful that was, Ginny knew not to fret because it was already over. Why worry over something that had happened?

Harry hugged his wife close to him. He realized he should have trusted her with the information earlier. He just didn't want to scare her or worry too much. His Ginny was strong though; he should have understood that better.

"You'll have to see them again, won't you…to put them in?" she whispered

"Yes…I do." Harry said after some thought.

"I will help you best I can, Harry, but I don't think I'll be enough" she stuttered.

"Well it's a good thing we came then," a voice said from the doorway.

They both turned to look and saw Ron and Hermione standing there with sad smiles pasted to their faces. Hermione walked to Harry and sat on the other side of him. She leaned over and gave him a giant bear hug.

"Harry, I am so sorry" she whispered.

"Yeah, sorry that my wife is probably squeezing the breath out of you mate." Said Ron from the doorway. Hermione got up and whacked him in the arm.

"Where are the kids?" Ginny asked, a bit confused.

"We carted them all off to Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's" he responded. "We're here for you Harry," he said with a grin. He walked and sat next to Ginny, giving her shoulder a brotherly squeeze.

"Thank you" Harry said.

They obviously didn't realize how much this meant to him. Ron and Hermione were just the people he needed. They were with him for a decent section of his memories. Actually at least one of them was probably in all of the memories.

Once this was all over, they would have a celebration he decided. They would invite all the Potter/Weasley family and declare they were celebrating just because they could.

He closed his eyes in worry as the thought off his memories entered his mind. Yes, the hard part had to come first, that's how it always was. He felt Hermione's hand slip into his and give it a squeeze. Ginny who was already holding his other hand let go and placed it on his shoulder.

"Are you ready Harry?" she asked, not wanting to rush him. He slowly nodded his head and took a deep breath

"Hermione…you know the spell right?" he said. "You know, to take the silvery, wispy, memory thing from my head?" Hermione and Ginny laughed while Harry and Ron gave them small smiles.

"Looks like you aren't very prepared are your Harry?" she said smiling.

"Hey, give him a break" Ron replied with a small laugh.

"Yes I know it."

"Thanks Hermione, you're a life saver." Harry said grinning.

Hermione muttered the spell to him and told him where to place the wand on his head. She said he didn't have to think of the whole memory; just a section of it, the magic would be able to pick up the rest of it. He nodded and Hermione squeezed his hand again.

"You can do it Harry" she said.

"We're here for you" Ginny whispered in his ear. Harry sighed and brought the wand up to his head.

"Were should I start?" he asked nervously.

"From the beginning."

They heard him mutter the spell and watched as a frown appeared on his face. He slowly pulled the memory out from his head, in that silvery wisp that she was told to expect. Ginny assumed the length of the wisp pertained to the length of the memory. This was obviously a very long memory.

Finally, he was done and he placed it slowly into the bowl sitting on his lap. She saw the memory spread and a picture Professor Quirell and the Mirror of Erised floated to the top. A movie of the event started to play and Harry touched it with his wand and it stopped.

"I…I don't want you guys to see some of these memories" he said, his voice shaking.

They all nodded in reluctant understanding. They all knew it wasn't healthy for him to hold everything in. When he thought it was right, he would show them.

For the next five hours, Harry pulled memory after memory out. The sun slowly began to sink and they could all tell the memories were only getting worse.

Ginny realized later on that she didn't _want _to see some of those memories; she would do it anyway though. One day, she would have Harry show her all of them one by one and she would be able to help him.

The next memory that came up was a picture of Hermione and Harry walking down a snowy street hand in hand, they were both under Polyjuice Potion, but just by the way they walked Ron and Ginny could tell who they were.

"When was this?" asked Ron, not remembering that time.

"It looks like a good memory…is it?" said Ginny trying to be optimistic.

"It was one of the worst," whispered Harry.

"Godric's Hollow" said Hermione in a whisper quieter than Harry. Tears slowly fell down her face. Ron walked over and sat next to her.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said.

Harry looked over at his friends and put his wand back up to his head. The worse was to come, but they would do it.

At least five memories remained. They were almost finished.

Finally it was over and Harry collapsed after the use of so much magic. All four of them had tears leaving streaks on their faces and it was good to know they wouldn't have to do it again. Tomorrow, they would celebrate. Tomorrow, they would forget this ever happened. The Trio, plus Ginny, trekked downstairs and sat on the first couch they came in contact with. Ron, Hermione, Harry then Ginny. They fell asleep side-by-side moments later.

##########

Arthur Weasley flooed to the Potter home to check on the quartet just after he ate his later-then-usual dinner. Things tended to take a bit longer with all the grandchildren in the home.

He found them all asleep on the couch in the sitting room. He smiled sadly. When Ron and Hermione dropped by with all the children, they just said that Harry was having a hard time and that they needed to help him. He turned back to the fireplace to go home. He decided it was best to leave them there and let them have their peace without the children. It looked like it would be one giant grandchild sleepover at his house. He hoped all was well.

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**I am having a lot of fun with this story! Please Review! **

**-Sweets5236**


	5. Time to Celebrate

**This is a really short one…sorry! I promise I'll do a nice long one next time. I couldn't really make this chapter any larger though.**

**Edited: June 5, 2012**

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"WAKE UP…WAKE UP…WAKE UP…WAKE UP YOU LAZY BAG OF POTATOES!" Sang Harry's alarm clock from George's joke shop.

His eyes snapped open and he felt Hermione stir next to him…wait…what was Hermione doing there? He blinked several times before the happenings of the previous night played through his head. He looked around and saw that they had all fallen asleep on the couch. The two girl's faces were still tear stained and Ron was frowning in his sleep.

He got up, turned off the rather annoying alarm clock, and retrieved a note that he saw on his kitchen table.

**Harry,**

**Don't worry, Molly and I can take care of the children tonight. When I came to check on you guys, you were passed out on the couch asleep. I hope everything needed was accomplished. Please come and visit tomorrow.**

**-Arthur**

Suddenly, Harry remembered something. His nightmares were gone! They were finally gone! Not one dream, good or bad, head entered his sleep last night. Stretching, Harry also realized he felt better then he had in months. Finally rested. He spun around when he heard footsteps behind him. It was Ron.

"You okay mate?" he asked.

"Yeah…actually I'm great! Even better then great!" Harry said.

Ron grinned and patted him on the back. The two best friends walked back into the sitting room to find Ginny and Hermione beaming up at them from the couch.

"Its over isn't it Harry" Hermione said smiling. Harry just nodded and Ginny jumped up and tackled him in a giant hug.

"Who wants to go to the Burrow?" said Harry excitedly. Everyone nodded and Ron waved his arm around in the air.

"I think this calls for a party!" he exclaimed.

"Well said, mate. Want to help me buy the stuff?" Harry asked.

"Wouldn't miss it"

"Race you to Hogsmeade," Harry instantly responded.

Ron ran towards the door and then he heard Harry disapperate. He frowned and realized he would have gotten nowhere by going out the front door. He finally disapperated to the sound of Hermione and Ginny giggling at his blunder.

##########

"WE'RE HERE!" yelled Harry practically singing as he stepped into the Burrow with his arms outstretched. He grinned and spun Molly around.

"Invite the WHOLE family over Mrs. Weasley!" he said as she looked at him like he was crazy.

"Ooo, you're in a good mood Harry, dear. Might I ask why?"

"Tell them…Tell them it's just because we need to see each other more often." He said with a grin

"That's good enough for me!" she said happily.

Molly Weasley loved having all of her family over. Not matter how crowded it was (which was usually a lot), it was always fun to get together with everyone at one time. If there was one thing most important to Mrs. Weasley, it was her family.

Harry heard the pitter-patter of little feet and saw Lily running towards him. She jumped up on him laughing. He proceeded to put her on his back and run through the house yelling.

"YOUR FAVORITE UNCLE/FATHER IS HERE!" After no response, he yelled, "AND I BROUGHT FOOD!"

3 screaming children instantly tackled him (plus Lily who was already on his back). He laughed and saw Hermione and Ginny in the doorway smiling from ear to ear.

"Wanna help me up?" he asked.

"Nah…" was Ginny's reply as they walked away.

"Levicorpus" he muttered under his breath.

All the kids were suddenly lifted into the air by their ankles, freeing Harry. He looked at them and saw James, Rose, Hugo, and Lily. Three of which were giggling madly while James was far to grown up for that sort of thing.

"Where's Al" he said.

"He's been reading all night" Replied Rose, turning red from being upside down for so long.

Harry conjured up some pillows underneath them and spoke the counter-curse. He stepped over all of them and walked up to the room Al was most likely staying in.

"Al?" he said leaning in. He saw his son stuffing a book into a chest and hurry to sit on top of it.

"Uh…hi there dad" he said, trying to act casual, but failing.

Of course Harry saw right through it but that was only because it was the exact tone of voice he used when trying to hide something.

"What are you up to?" he said, wanting to laugh at his son's behavior.

"Nothing" Albus replied to quickly.

Harry decided to let it slide and invited Albus downstairs for the party that they were throwing. The two walked down the stairs as Harry questioned Albus about his night at the Burrow. When they arrived at the bottom, he looked out the window and saw, Ron and Hermione draping streamers along the trees with Arthur and George (who had arrived minutes ago) floating tables down onto the lawn. James and Fred were most likely plotting behind the shed and Roxanne was laughing with Rose about something while Lily and Hugo discussed who their favorite stuffed animal was.

"Hello George" he said cheerfully as he stepped outside with Albus close behind him. "How's the joke shop?"

"Wow, Harry, what's gotten you so happy?" George said grinning at his brother-in-law's cheerfulness.

"I'm just glad that everyone is coming over, that's all,"

"Sure" said George looking at him skeptically. Harry just kept on smiling…what was there to be sad about anyway?


	6. Why?

**This is Albus's point of view on what happened in the last few chapters.**

**Edited: June 5, 2012**

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Albus was slightly traumatized to say the least after hearing what Hermione had told his mom. What had made his Aunt Hermione react like that? Were his father's memories _really_ that awful?

Even with his extensive knowledge Al had no idea what was going on. He understood that his dad was having dreams about his past…but what could possibly provoke all this attention? Albus sadly concluded that he knew very little about his dad. Sure he knew his favorite color and that his weakness was a good muggle film, but how his dad had grown up was surrounding by smoke that Al just couldn't see through.

He spent the next five minutes searching for books to read up on. He had to be careful as many of the books appeared to be fictions on portraying his dad. Al needed the facts. As he collected his sixth one, his Uncle Ron came into the room and declared that they would be spending the rest of the day at the burrow with Grandma and Grandpa Weasley.

"Why?" asked Albus.

"Ummmm…"

Uncle Ron was dead awful at lying and Al could tell he was trying to come up with some excuse that only Hugo and Lily would believe.

"Well, your aunt and I are going back to your house to help your dad…clean." He said.

James rolled his eyes and walked out of the room and down the stairs. James was the kind of person that went with the flow of things. He was very curious (a trait that came with all Potters), but he never sought out the cause of the things he was curious about. This was in fact the complete opposite of Albus.

"We all cleaned the house yesterday," he said smartly.

"Oh…um…did I say clean? I meant…well…" stuttered Ron.

"What's taking so long?" said Aunt Hermione as she came into the room.

"Why are you guys going to my house?" Al asked fixing her with his signature "tell-me-everything-and-I-will-stop-asking-questions" look.

"We're going to go and help your dad fix something he bought today." She said with ease.

Albus could tell she had planned on Ron failing with his lie so she had that excuse ready before he even asked.

"Come on, into the fireplace." She walked back out and down the stairs without another word.

Knowing he wasn't going to get anything else out of her, he followed with an obvious frown on his face and the pile of books clutched tightly in his arms.

##########

It had been an hour since he arrived at the Burrow with his cousins and siblings. In all that time he searched every single one of the books and he found nothing he didn't already know. Al knew about how his dad defeated Voldemort. In all the books that was the only thing it talked about. It didn't even say how!

He knew it would have been hard and scary, and that it was an amazing feat, but there must be something more to it. Something he accidently skipped over or something they didn't put in any books, this Albus was sure of. He slowly turned the pages of one of the books for a second time and finally, his eyes fluttered shut.

##########

The next morning Al woke up and found himself still at the Burrow. Usually his dad would have flooed him home and levitated him up to his bed. Apparently this time was different. Albus couldn't help but wonder if that was how things were supposed to happen.

Al figured that his parents never came to get him and that Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron stayed with him for he saw the small shape of Hugo on the floor a little bit away from him. Where were they? Why weren't they home yet? All these questions swirled through his head at once.

As he thought the rest of the children finally woke up and walked out of the room. Albus ended up picking up his books again and re-reading for a final time.

##########

The party was in full swing and everyone was having fun…except Albus. He went back up to his room a little while after his father took him down. His fear heightened. His dad was suddenly happy, ecstatic even. WHY! Al's head was hurting with all of the questions he had.

He pushed them aside and vowed that he would find out the answers to all of his questions eventually. For now, he decided it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun. He walked downstairs once again to be greeted by Rose who pulled him outside to try and stop whatever James and Fred were doing.

**#########**

**Please Review!**


	7. Into the Pensieve

**Here's that long one I promised! PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Edited: June 5, 2012**

**##########**

2 years later

"Bye Fred, Bye James! May you have a calm 2nd year that doesn't involve exploding toilets!" Yelled George as the train left Platform 9 ¾.

"You too Roxy and all the other kids who are related to us on that train!" exclaimed Angelina. She was far too tired to try and remember all the kids on the train that they were sending off.

The entire Potter/Weasley clan was currently watching the Hogwarts Express zoom off. It was tradition to have everyone there to see all of the nieces/nephews/grandchildren off on his or her first year. This usually resulted in them going every year due to the growing number of children. Two years ago they went to see Dominique and Molly off, last year they went to see James, Fred, and Lucy, and this year it was Roxy.

Albus sighed…why couldn't he just go now? He had no idea how he would be able to wait another YEAR before he went to Hogwarts…was it even possible? He looked over and saw Rose with a familiar look on her face. She frowned at the ground, thinking. She was the same age as Albus and longed to go to Hogwarts just as much as he did. I mean, who wouldn't want to! Hogwarts was a legend and it sounded especially fun when a letter was sent home every week naming a new rule James and Fred had broken.

"Don't worry Al, you've waited 10 years…what harm is another one going to do?" said Harry Potter, ruffling his son's messy hair.

Albus shrugged his shoulders and followed his mom and a sleepy Lily back through the barrier. Her head was resting on Harry's shoulder as he carried her back to the muggle world. Albus smiled. He really loved his family and he would always be able to say who his favorite sister was.

When he told this to James, he said it was probably because Fire Top was his only sister. The thing he loved the most about his little sister was her hair. It wasn't that bright Weasley hair that hurt your eyes, but a softer shade that was slightly darker. Harry had told him that Lily had the same shade of hair as her namesake. Albus liked that a lot.

After navigating their way out of the large station, the families said their good byes and latched onto their children, quickly apparating home. Albus felt that all too familiar tugging sensation and opened his eyes to see their little cottage in Godric's Hollow. The house was a lot bigger on the inside then it looked, but that was expected in most wizard homes.

At this time of year, Ginny's gorgeous flowerbeds were in full bloom. The scent of lilies caught his attention and the village people spending the day wandering were staring at the beautiful rose bushes as they walked by.

Ginny Weasley discovered the wonders of muggle gardening a few months after Harry and her inhabited the house in Godric's Hallow. It took her mind off of the world and made her happy. She was known to put her feeling and memories into her flowers…almost literally.

Ginny's magical signature tends to run off onto the flowers while she works on them. If you were to look carefully you would notice that around May, the flowers looked especially sad and fragile (the anniversary of the Battle at Hogwarts), but around September they were in full bloom and strong (When she was preparing to send her kids off to school and would soon get her long needed break). They also tend to perk up whenever she walks by. The flowers were everywhere along the side of the house and scattered across the year. It made the home look bright and sunny no matter what time of day it was.

The Potter household was wonderful…almost as wonderful as the Burrow. It magically expanded depending on the number of people present and thanks to their kind house elf, Mary Lou, it was always in top condition.

It was the second most visited house in the family because it was one of the only ones big enough to fit everyone. The Potter/Weasley clan was considerately larger than most and could easily be identified by the famous mix of orange and messy black hair. New rooms popped up when needed and old ones re-appeared when asked to do so. Everyone in the Weasley family had their own room in the cottage whether they liked it or not.

The family of six (Currently 4 with James and Teddy missing) trekked into the house and collapsed in the living room. The morning of September first was always chaotic and drained the energy out of all involved.

Lily fell asleep instantly on the couch and Al decided he would rest his head for a moment. He slowly closed his eyes and started to drift off when he heard his father start to talk to his mum. Al's curiosity got the better of him as it usually did. He woke up quickly, but kept his eyes closed…just in case they didn't want him to hear.

"Wow…Nnext year Al will be going to Hogwarts…crazy huh?" Albus assumed his dad was running his hand through his hair like he usually did when he was thinking.

"Yep, and before we know it our Fire Top will be leaving too." Said Ginny sadly, with a sniffle.

"Well, I'm going to put some stuff in the pensieve if you don't mind…my thoughts are rather mixed up at the moment." He replied.

"Okay, should I move the kids to their beds?"

"No, just leave them there"

"Hope you feel better soon!" Ginny called after him as he walked up the stairs.

She then got up and walked outside to tend her flowers. This left Albus to his thoughts, which like his father's, were quite mixed up. The pensieve? The memory of his sad father who was troubled with nightmares came back into his head. Al remembered over hearing his Aunt and Uncle's conversation and promising himself he would find out what was going on.

He sat up slowly and put his head in his hands. A promise was a promise. He stood and walked up the stair avoiding the ones that creaked. He had been trained by James to be sneaky. This meant that they had created a map of all the stairs that made noise and memorized. Once it had been imprinted into their minds, they evidence was destroyed (meaning they had thrown it in the fire place).

He walked up to his father's door and pressed his ear to it. He heard silence and nothing but.

Before he could move out of the way, the door swung open to reveal his father grinning down at him.

"Hello Al, having a nice day?" he said casually, trying not to laugh. Albus just stared back with wide eyes and Harry chuckled.

"Sorry son, my door will always have a silencing charm on it" he got up and walked back down the stairs, still laughing.

The thought crossed Harry's mind that Albus would still try and go into his room, but he waved the thought away. Anything in there that would do him harm was well hidden. Might as well let the boy explore.

Al poked his head around the frame of his father's door looking for anything that would stop him from going in.

When he saw nothing he walked in and decided to start his search for the mysterious pensieve in the bathroom. He opened cupboards and drawers only to find extra toilet paper and shampoo as expected. He looked behind the shower curtain to see the bathtub scorched as usual with James and Fred's names spelled out in permanent ink on the sides.

Last summer James and Fred used the bathtub as base. Albus's parents never used it so they thought the idea was foolproof. They wrote their names in it to declare that it was theirs and theirs only. Later that week they were trying out some of Uncle George's prototypes and it left a nasty mark on the side. Both imprints refused to be removed no matter how many times Ginny tried to hex them off.

Albus smiled at the memory and got back to searching his mum and dad's closet. He looked under every shoe and behind every hanger to no avail. He even looked into the old secret compartment James had found a few years back. It was hidden behind his dad's auror uniforms and Harry had taken everything out of it when he realized James knew it was there.

The last place he searched was under his father's bed. It was such an obvious hiding spot that Al thought that it might just be there. It wasn't. He slumped down in defeat at the foot of his parent's dresser.

Running his fingers along the knobs and cracks Albus got lost in thought. It had been his grandfather's and was salvaged from the destroyed house that was a few streets down from the one the Potters currently lived in. The dresser really was neat. It was a beautiful dark brown mahogany with stenciled vines and leaves that grew with the weather. In the spring the vine grew dark, tiny flowers and in the winter all of the leaves on it shriveled up and fell to the bottom.

As he traced one of the vines with his finger, he came to a spot that was noticeably jagged. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and looked at it closely. He made out 3, small, words. _The three most important. _The words moved with the growing vines and he followed them with his eyes and pondered their meanings.

The three most important what? Several things popped into his head. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were the first one. He spoke the names out loud and nothing happened. He kept thinking. Clearly it meant something and was accompanied with some sort of code.

"Ummm…James, Sirius, and Remus?" he said out loud with question in his voice. Still, nothing happened.

At that point here was only one more thing he could think of.

"James, Albus, and Lily" he whispered out loud. He heard a faint "click", but besides that, nothing happened. Albus was terribly close and tried again.

"James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna," he spoke.

He knew he found what he needed when a small compartment popped open. He lifted up the drawer and it floated to where he was standing. He looked inside and saw many things. It seemed like the drawer was holding more then it should, but that was magic for you.

What first caught his attention was a small gold snitch, this snitch was different then ones he had seen before though. It was opened up at the middle and on the sides were the words "_I open at the close"_. He shrugged and set it back down on the bed.

A large fang caught his eye next, he decided not to touch it just incase it wasn't safe. He also saw the Marauder's Map that his father had confiscated from James during his first year after he used it to set Professor McGonagall's office on fire (accidentally). At the very bottom of the drawer was the thing he had secretly been hoping to find. It was just as he remembered it, shallow and silver. There was only one difference this time. It was filled with a strange silver-blue substance that looked like a cross between a solid and a liquid. On the surface he saw frozen pictures floating around. Most of them were of his father and seemed to range from all different times.

He let his curiosity get the best of him and he hesitantly touched one of the pictures. It was the one were his father looked the youngest.

As he touched it he found himself falling down into the room shown in the pensieve. Luckily, Albus knew what pensieves did so he wasn't too startled.

He looked around. The room was spacious and empty except for a man in a turban and a large mirror sitting next to him. Albus looked behind him and saw an eleven-year-old Harry Potter running towards him. Al knew that it was his father because it looked exactly like he did, but it obviously wasn't him. He had the same messy black hair and emerald green eyes.

He saw his father run up to the man in the turban with an extremely confused look on his face. He watched as the man declared that it was him who tried to steal some kind of stone and Harry's expression changed.

He then saw his dad look into the mirror in front of him. Being in a memory, Albus saw what Harry was looking at. The reflection portrayed a young boy wizard dropping a red stone into his pocket. The stone came into reality and Albus saw it drop into his dad's pocket.

The man slowly unfurled his turban to reveal the face of a man who was surely Lord Voldemort. Albus breathed in deeply. This was definitely a shock. His father was about to face the darkest wizard of his time and he was only eleven. Things were starting to make some sense.

The worst part was that he could do nothing to help because he was just watching a memory. His insides squirmed with a feeling of want. He wanted to help _so _much that he could barley look. No wonder his Aunt Hermione was in a state of distress when she discovered what his father was going through. The scene before Albus gave him the chills. If anyone was a true Gryffindor, it was Harry Potter and Al realized that then.

Another surprise came when he saw that the Professor wasn't able to touch Harry. He felt sick to his stomach, but watched the professor turned to ash and the spirit of the Dark Lord vanish right as Harry passed out dropping the precious stone on his way down.

The last thing Albus saw in that particular memory was his namesake run in and levitate Harry out of the room.

Al expected to be thrown back into the real world, but was quite shocked when he found himself once again hurtling into a different memory.


	8. Tears of a Phoenix

**Edited: June 5, 2012**

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Al slowly stood up in confusion. Where was he? His eyes scanned the room and almost bulged out of his eyes when he saw a giant snakeskin in the middle of the floor. He looked down onto the ground and realized he was stepping on bones. A shiver ran up his spine. What kind of memory was this? He shuddered once again and turned his head to see his father, Uncle Ron, and an older man falling out one of the shoots.

Obviously Ron and Harry weren't pleased with this man for their wands were pointed directly at him. It was easy to tell that the two twelve-year-olds scared this man even though he was years old.

Albus took an immediate disliking to this him. His robes were of the very best quality and the frilliness of them was incredible, considering it was a _man_ wearing them. His teeth sparkled as he tried to smile his way out of things. Al knew it wouldn't work.

James had tried every single form of getting out of things known to mankind. Smiling didn't work on their dad. Nothing _ever_ worked when it came to getting out of something from Harry. He had an iron will.

Lily was the only one known to be able to squirm out of things. This was because "he's wrapped around my little finger" as she liked to say in that cute little kid voice of hers as if she knew everything. She picked up the words from Uncle George as he was teasing Harry about it.

They were now in a heated argument so Al took the time to let his eyes wander, not quite sure what else to do. The room was quite an awful place and almost looked like his brother's description of the Hogwarts's dungeons.

James Sirius Potter (being named after two Marauders) was known to exaggerate though. He had told Al that the dungeons reeked of Slytherin (apparently they had the distinct odor of evil). He also said that it felt like you were walking through winter without a jumper on. The last thing he said was that there was sludge oozing out of the cracks in the walls. At that point during James's tale Albus had walked away, bored at his brother's stretched truths.

This place made Al believe that evil really did have an odor. But for some reason he didn't figure that these were the Hogwarts dungeons…it was probably the 70-foot snakeskin on the floor that threw him off. Or maybe it was the fact that he was _still_ stepping on bones.

Albus jumped as he heard a bang. He spun around to see a wall of rocks in front of him and a dazed Harry at his side. Ron was yelling from the other side of the massive wall going on about Professor Lockhart (as he had learned the man's name was) and how he blasted himself with his own memory charm.

Albus thought his was quite funny seeing as this man was supposed to be a professor. Ron then spoke about his wand being broken and Al knew he was missing something here. How did Ron break his wand? He decided he would find out later. Obviously the pensieve was just showing him the basics and for now, he was okay with it. At least he was seeing something. It was as if the magical object _wanted_ him to learn about his father.

He saw Harry run down the passageway and stop at a rather creepy door (not that it was the only creepy thing in the room). He then heard him speak in a shiver-bringing language that made the gears in Al's head turn. Albus thought for a moment and then he came to a realization. His father was a Parselmouth!

Why hadn't he told him? That thought left Albus's head as soon as it arrived. His dad hadn't told him a lot, so why should he tell him that he could speak to snakes? A bubble of anger blew in Al…why couldn't his family trust him? Did his mom or aunts and uncles even know? Did any of them realize what had been going on besides Ron and Hermione? He frowned and decided he would dwell on the matter later and entered through the door behind Harry.

He was amazed at the room he had entered. Ornate, giant, stone snakes were lined up along the walls, each seeming to stare at him right in the eye. A cold shiver went down his spine at the thought (he seemed to be shivering a lot in this memory). The next thing he saw almost gave him a heart attack. Lying in the middle of the chamber was the cold, small body of a girl with flaming red hair…Weasley hair at that.

Harry had seen the girl to and ran to her side; using the nobleness that everyone now laughed about.

Al collapsed beside him as he realized it was his mum. His mum! What was she doing in this awful place looking like she was about to die! Next to her was a worn leather notebook. Its pages flipped open to reveal a blank page.

Tears were flowing down both Harry's and Al's face at an unreasonably fast rate. It seemed as if all sense had disappeared from him. Somewhere Al knew this was just a memory, but for the most part he almost believed his mom was lying lifeless in front of him.

Albus then heard an unfamiliar voice above him. He looked up to see a handsome boy who had pale skin and dark hair. Something seemed wrong about this man, just in the way he spoke and walked. Harry, who was so terrified for Ginny, didn't even notice something was wrong until the boy, Tom Riddle, somehow stole Harry's wand. That was when things went wrong.

The rest of the memory frightened Albus even more then the first one had. His father was surely about to dodge death again! His mother was now going on her first time and Al couldn't help but wonder how many times she was going to be close to dying in the next years.

Ever since he was small, Albus had been _terrified _of snakes. To the point were a picture would make him scream. As he got older his phobia died down a bit, but that feeling of freezing up in terror returned to him.

At the sight of the giant Basilisk coming out of the mouth of Salazar Slytherin, he almost passed out. The thought that it wouldn't actually be able to touch him was the only thing that kept him from going under. Great, his dad had to fight a Basilisk AND Lord Voldemort at the same time! Whoop-de-do. The sarcasm in Al's mind kept him partially stable, at least stable enough to keep his eyes open.

Then all hope seemed to be lost. Something would surely happen to stop all of it though, thought Al, trying to reassure himself. He was right though because soon after Dumbledore's phoenix flew to the rescue with a…hat? His spirits were lifted when Harry pulled a familiar sword out of it.

'At least the old hat has a famous sword in it" Al thought, trying to be optimistic. His tears returned as his father stabbed the giant snake and fell to the ground, venom traveling through his body. All the possible antidotes ran through his head. Sadly it was singular, but ironically, the cure was in the room with them that very moment. Albus made his plea vocal even though they couldn't hear him.

"Fawkes! Please Fawkes! HELP HIM!" he sobbed, knowing that the tears of the bird would save Harry.

Little tremors were traveling through his whole body. He looked up and saw the beautiful bird on his dad's shoulder, silently crying on his wound. Al gasped in relieve and buried his head in his hands, trying to calm the throbbing headache he was getting after so much adrenaline pumped through him.

He then saw his father grab a Basilisk fang and stab the little leather book, the cause of all these problems. Ink pored everywhere and the body of Tom Riddle disappeared. Albus saw Ginny awake and cry, explain that _she_ was the one who opened the chamber. Al had no time to react though because he was suddenly falling into a different memory.


	9. The Mass Murderer

**Edited: June 27, 2012**

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The wind was rather strong and Albus could hear the creaking of what seemed to be an old, rusty swing set on his left. He also heard a soft rumble, the click-clack of small wheels on asphalt. He turned to his right to see his father pulling his trunk behind him looking rather angry. What was he doing here at this time of night?

A look at the sky showed inky darkness dotted with stars. It was most definitely late at night. The air was humid and heavy, making Albus tug at his collar in discomfort.

Al turned in a circle, trying to find anything out of the ordinary that would cue him into what exactly made this memory so important. He paused at the sound of a rustle in a large bush. Two glowing eyes peered back out at him, or rather, back at Harry Potter. It was almost as if the animal _recognized_ the thirteen year old.

The thing move forward and Al found himself tumbling to the ground in shock and landing next to his dad. Harry's wand arm was held in front of him on the rough pavement, purely by accident it seemed. In a matter of seconds a giant purple bus pulled up before him. Oh yes, Albus knew this particular bus; he didn't have very many fond memories of it either.

He turned to the bush and found the animal, what he concluded was probably a large dog, had seemingly disappeared. That or it was momentarily gone from his sight. Albus turned back towards the bus, anticipating what would happen.

Al remembered his first time on the Knight Bus. It was also the first time he realized his dad, the fearless Harry Potter, was scared of something. This particular something was the bus and Harry had spent hours trying to convince Ginny to find a different manner of transportation.

That day, a few years ago actually, the Potters had been taking a family trip to Diagon Alley and Ginny had insisted they do something besides apparate outside of the Leaky Cauldron like they usually did. Little Fire Top was only a toddler at two years old. Albus himself was four and James was six.

The argument consisted of how the only reasonable way to get there without apparating was to take the Knight Bus. Of course Harry argued that they could take a car and Ginny argued that it would take hours to drive. Floo powder was Harry's next excuse, but Ginny crushed his bubble with the fact that they were out.

Since Albus was so young, he could only remembering his dad practically bolting out the open doors as soon as the thrilling ride and come to a stop and they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

Al was snapped back into reality when the doors to the large bus in front of him almost closed. He slipped in and took a seat by his dad who was getting questioned by the man who had previously been attending to the few other occupants of the bus.

Albus gasped when he saw the name and face on the man's newspaper. His eyes widened as he scanned the words on the Prophet.

"_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today. "We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm." Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Confederation of Wizards for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis. "Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it - who'd believe him if he did?" While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse._"

So this was what his father meant when he said his godfather had a troubled life. Troubled seemed like too small of a word now that Al actually understood. Albus had always imagined that his dad's godfather had girl problems or something…but escaping Azkaban after twelve years of imprisonment? He had to admit, that was impressive. But did the man James was partially named after really _murder_ thirteen people? Something there didn't make any sense. Sirius Black was always spoken of with an air of respect in both the Potter and Weasley homes.

Maybe Harry's first encounter with the name 'Sirius Black' was what made him despise the Knight Bus. Seeing a loved one in such a horrid light was sure to put anyone in a bad mood. Albus learned otherwise when he saw Harry's face as the purple bus shot down the road at an alarming speed. He looked positively green.

The air around Al started waving and warping and he was once again thrown down a tunnel into a new memory.

In this memory, Harry was still thirteen as the last one instead of a year older like in all the other memories he had seen. He, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione were all sitting on the Hogwarts Express on their way to school.

In the corner of the compartment was a man who was fast asleep, snoring softly. He looked rather ragged and Al could barely see his sandy blonde hair poking out of the jacket he was using as a blanket. That hair was strikingly familiar.

Of course Albus would remember it though because it was the same color as Teddy's hair. It was actually very hard to forget Teddy's true hair color because it was seldom that it ever flashed from its common teal color to the original. Based on the gathered facts, Albus figured that this man must be Remus Lupin.

Albus was snapped out of his thoughts when the lights flickered off and he could almost feel the room getting unbearably cold. Just looking at the newly frosted windows mad him shiver. Mr. Lupin still hadn't moved.

Al then saw a hand, a hand so disgustingly terrifying that he would never forget it, pull the door to the compartment open. If that wasn't a dementor then Al would be willing to blast himself with an 'Avada Kedavra'. He had read about them in numerous books. They were said to have fled from the public to hide on an island in an area known as the Bermuda Triangle. They caused many problems during the days of Voldemort.

Al wanted to scream when he saw his dad pass out cold. He then saw Mr. Lupin stand up with incredible speed and shoot a silvery light looking vaguely like an animal out of his wand; it made the dark, looming figure retreat. A Patronus. He had seen the Patronus of his father several times; it was a proud, majestic stag. His mother's was a horse and it was actually very beautiful. He had always dreamed of the day he would learn to create something so pure and full of light.

Before he could see what happened next, he was pushed into a new memory that was yet again while his father was thirteen. They were in a battered old shack that was in terrible condition. Old furniture was strewn across the room and Albus could almost swear that that was blood on the wall.

He saw a man he now knew to be Sirius Black standing in the corner. Uncle Ron was lying on the floor in obvious pain clutching desperately. Aunt Hermione and Harry were standing in front of him. Talk of killing people was thrown around a while before Teddy's dad came into the room looking as ragged as ever. Snape, who was tossed against the wall by a disarming jinx thrown by Ron, Hermione, and Harry, entered the rom right after Remus had.

Albus watched the true story unfold. He watched as Harry realized that what they said about Peter wasn't a lie. The man that murdered his parents had been with him at school for three years. The rat escaped when Lupin turned into a werewolf, having been unaware of the full moon.

He watched as a figure, whom he was sure was Harry himself, warded off a hundred dementors after Sirius and Harry had ran from Lupin who was now on a rampage in the forest.

Al had been right; Harry and Hermione had used a time turner to save the now innocent and framed Sirius Black from a fate worse then death. Buckbeak, a hippogriff sentenced to death, aided them in the getaway. Sirius was safe and the trio was left unharmed yet Remus resigned and Pettigrew escaped.

That had all happened in a singular night and Albus couldn't believe the endurance it must have took. Based on all that had happened, Harry's next year at Hogwarts was sure to be a wild one.

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**Please Review!**

**-Sweets5236**


	10. A Flash of the End

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

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Al spiraled through his father's fourth, fifth, and sixth years at school. Each was worse then the rest.

The Triwizard Tournament finally made sense. Harry had been the famed fourth champion of a three-person competition. One contestant had died in front of his eyes while another had been under the Imperius Curse. Strangely, the third later become Harry's sister in law.

That wasn't the half of it though, Voldemort was back and Harry was thrown into a world of mocking witches and wizards who had no idea of what was to come because they were too _foolish_ to believe the words of a boy they once worshipped.

Then came the heartbreak of Sirius's death in the Department of Mysteries. It was a tragedy brought on by a connection between Harry and Lord Voldemort. The one person Harry could call family was dead, killed by his own cousin. What with the drama of the Order of the Phoenix and Professor Umbridge all ready pilled around Harry, Albus's dad broke.

Al was becoming jumpy after seeing all of these horrors. He just wanted to get to the end, to make it all stop, to leave. The pensieve seemed to be in sync with his mind for the memories sped by his eyes faster and faster becoming flashes that he was somehow able to still understand.

The Half-Blood Prince, Professor Slughorn, the discovery of horcruxes, and the death of Professor Dumbledore became a five second movie reel. It gave Albus a strong headache and tears burned his eyes.

That's when everything _stopped_. It froze and slowly became a normal speed. This was important. These were the moments that truly made his father. Why else would the pensieve take such time to show him?

Al was shocked to learn that Harry Potter never went through his seventh year at Hogwarts. Neither did Ron or Hermione. They were outcast living in tents in the forest. Harry was the Number One Desirable with a large price on his head.

They were on an important mission though and without it, Al was sure his life would be much different. For all he knew he couldn't have even been born.

The first memory he saw from this period, took place in an area he was actually quite familiar with, it was his home, not exactly, but very close to it. Harry and Hermione were strolling through Godric's Hallow. They weren't themselves though. The only reason that Al could tell the middle-aged couple was the two was how his aunt walked and how Harry kept running his hand through his hair.

Snow was falling from the sky and the village was dark. Singing was heard from a nearby church, happy Christmas carols that made Albus grin. It was Christmas Eve and Harry and Hermione had only just realized it.

That's when Albus noticed that something was wrong. Ron wasn't there. He was nowhere in sight. Yes, there was a small chance that they could have just left him back somewhere, but a strong feeling in Al's gut told him otherwise. He had left them. He was gone.

A flurry of questions ran through his head as to why it happened and how. He walked aimlessly behind Harry and Hermione trying to figure it all out. Alas, the pieces were all missing and he had nothing to put together.

He watched paused at several grave sights in the small cemetery they had entered moments ago. Then he stopped, standing in front of one particular headstone Al was very familiar with.

A small tear streaked down his face. He now understood his dad's pain. Harry Potter had no parents, a widely known fact, and surely this was the first time he had ever seen their graves.

Albus himself had seen them numerous times. Whether he was out on a walk or picking up groceries with his mum, they always stopped by the cemetery if it was passed. Every Halloween they carted a picnic to the small site and the whole family came together. He had seen his grandparent's gravesite more times in a year of his life then his dad had in seventeen.

After Harry had gripped Hermione's hand tightly, the two walked back towards the dark church and the kissing gate. They soon arrived at the Potter's old home. Even in Albus' day it was still in its partially demolished state, but that made it all the more special.

Al, who had been searching the area with his eyes, paused at the sight of an old women standing in the distance. She was watching them and soon was hobbling towards Harry and Hermione. There was something very wrong about this; Al could feel it.

His heart sped up as the two decided to follow the lady they knew as Bathilda Bagshot. If Albus was correct though, this famous historian had passed away a week _before_ Christmas this very year he was visiting. Had his books somehow gotten it wrong? That was not a plausible thought though. Historical dates were _always_ right so that meant that this lady wasn't. Al's mind focus flashed to the muggle zombie magazines James used to collect.

He was wrong though. He soon figured out what was happening when Harry and Hermione had entered her house and were attacked. This Bathilda Bagshot was no zombie; she was a snake. Voldemort's snake actually. When Al thought about it, he realized that the two puncture wounds Nagini had created on his father's arm were still imprinted there.

As the memory spiraled, signaling its end, Albus couldn't help but wonder how Harry had ever managed to get his wand fixed. The one broken in the memory was the exact one he currently had and it had seemed to be destroyed beyond repair. All of that aside, Al prepared for the next memory.

It was the Forest of Dean that he landed in. This place was as familiar to him as Godric's Hallow. Every winter his family, along with Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione and their kids, would pitch tents in the snowy forest and camp out for a week or two.

This was why. Albus instantly knew. Whatever was in this memory was the reason why the two families went camping _in the winter in the middle of nowhere._ Albus knew not one other family who went camping during that particular time of year. This was why.

The snow felt soft beneath his feet and he could see a small yellow tent was pitched a few meters off. A seventeen-year-old Harry Potter was sitting outside fingering what seemed to be Hermione's wand.

Aunt Hermione. Her soft sobs were heard from inside the tent and Uncle Ron was nowhere to be seen. He was gone. He had left them. This picture before Albus was all wrong. His strong aunt was crying, Harry had her wand, and Ron wasn't there. His forever-loyal Uncle Ron.

Al sat down in shock, once again trying to understand. What had happened? How long had his uncle been gone? Would he come back? Who knew how long it had been since the incident in Godric's Hallow. Who knew how long Ron had been gone now.

Snow crunched in the distance and Albus' head snapped up along with Harry's. A silvery doe stood before them. She was beautiful and warmed something inside of Al. She turned to leave and Harry followed, almost reluctantly. It was a patronus, something only made out of happy thoughts and feelings…it had to be good.

The doe took them to the edge of a small pool of water before fading away and Al almost sighed at its departure. Beneath the ice of the water glittered the ruby incrusted hilt of a sword. It was a sword Al had read about numerous times. The sword of Godric Gryffindor was lying in the bottom of a pool of water in the middle of nowhere. This was no coincidence.

Apparently Harry didn't think so either for he shed his many sweater then and there before jumping into the frigid water. Hanging on his chest was a large, egg shaped locket bearing a Slytherin looking 'S'. The shape of the locket reminded Al of something, but being unable to concentrate with his dad jumping into a hypothermia inducing pool, Albus tossed the thought momentarily aside.

He began to get worried when Harry didn't come back up. Something was happening under the water and Albus had no idea what. The water spun around the area, Harry was obviously thrashing.

Al jumped at the sight of someone jumping in after him, someone with shocking orange hair. The two came up gasping. Ron threw the sword to the bank and Harry heaved himself over and instantly ripped the locket off his neck.

That's when Albus realized why it looked so familiar for in the spot the locket had been was a dark imprint of the exact same shape. It was a scar Al had seen on his dad many a time while swimming. It wasn't gained from that particular experience, Al could tell, but it was most definitely from the locket.

It clicked in Albus' mind that the only thing the locket could be was a horcrux and the thing they needed to destroy it was right in front of them. The Sword of Gryffindor only took in that which made it stronger and if Al remembered correctly it was the very sword Harry had used to kill the Basilisk in his second year.

The things that came out of the locket once Harry opened it certainly scared Albus and wished more every second that Ron would just kill it like he was supposed to. A breath of air he didn't know he was holding in escaped once the horrible object finally got a mouthful of goblin made metal.

Albus laughed with relief and laughed even harder at how his Aunt Hermione acted when she saw Uncle Ron. They may have not gotten together until after the battle, but it was obvious that they were smitten with each other.

The memory ended and Al was pushed into a battle. It was Hogwarts, as he had never seen it before. The ancient stonewalls were crumbling and chaos ensued. After watching with awe the giant spiders crawling around the wreckage and many a wizard battling masked death eaters, Albus realized what this was. It was the infamous battle of Hogwarts.

This was where half of everyone his family knew had died. This was where Voldemort died too and Albus was standing there watching it all. He turned in a full circle realizing that his father must be close.

There he was running up the many stairs of the castle, dodging and firing the occasional hex. He traveled all the way to the seventh floor before stopping in front of a blank wall and walking in front of it three times.

The room that appeared was cluttered beyond imagine. It was as if everything ever lost had been sent there. Harry obviously knew what he was looking for though; he vaguely knew where it was too.

Albus watched as Draco Malfoy rushed into the seen manned by his two friends. This was the first time Al had seen Malfoy at this age. Several times during Diagon Alley trips with his mum and Aunt Hermione he had been pointed out, but seeming him so much younger put things into perspective.

Once the fiend fire was started, lives were saved by brooms, and the object Harry had been looking for was destroyed, Al felt like he could stop straining so hard to so everything. Another horcrux was dead and Ron and Hermione had destroyed yet another down in the Chamber of Secrets. Everything was going to slow down.

Albus was right. Voldemort's forces momentarily retreated and the dead were placed in the Great Hall. Never before had Al seen so many people in that state in one place. Never had he seen _one person_ dead actually. The tears fell at the sight of his uncle he had never met and they fell harder when she spotted Remus Lupin lying beside his wife. Her hair was brown and lifeless. He almost expected it to turn pink, as all of his relatives had said it always was.

Then the memory faded and something flashed before his eyes, it was as fast as Harry's fourth, fifth, and sixth years had been. He saw the life of Lily Evans through Snape's memories and he discovered that his father must die. He was a horcrux. Somehow that didn't surprise Albus though. It almost clicked everything into place.

He was then thrown into the Forbidden Forest, Harry at his side. Surrounding them were four beings unlike anything Al had seen. They were there, but almost translucent in a way, pale and not quite there. It made sense though for the people around them were all passed.

In Harry's hand Albus saw a small ring. A ghost of an old story drifted into his head. The cloak, the ring, the wand; the three needed to master death. Whenever the story of the Three Brothers was told in the Potter household, it was almost spoken with a reverence that hinted that it was much more then an old wives tale. They were real.

Deciding not to pay attention to the conversation, Albus took a good look at those present. There were James and Lily, just like they had been in the pictures his dad had shown him. Remus was different though. He didn't look sick or shabby, he looked happy and that dark worried look that had seemed to always be in his eyes had disappeared. He looked happy.

Sirius was there too and Albus was happy to see him again. He couldn't help but admire the man greatly. There was just something about him that told Al that Sirius Black was a very good person.

Before he knew it the four had gone from his sight and Harry was facing Voldemort. Then he died. Albus did not see what had happened in Harry's mind when he had died for a thick blackness engulfed him for a long period of time. Today wasn't the day to see what had happened Al realized. It was obviously important, but he wasn't meant to see it just then.

The darkness lifted and he was back in the forest. Hagrid was carrying Harry and sobbing loudly. He was alive though, Harry. Al could tell by the way his eyes twitched as if he wished to open them and assure the large man that he was okay.

He watched the remainder of the memory with a thick tiredness surrounding him like a blanket. He saw Voldemort die and he saw Harry become the holder of the Elder Wand. Yes, he realized that Harry had, at one point, been the master of death.

Albus didn't realize he was crying until the salty tears dripped onto his arm. He expected that soon he would leave the pensieve and be thrown back into the present world and out of the memories. Now he understood though. He understood the numerous hardships of Harry Potter. His dad. His dad had been though everything imaginable and now Albus understood.

Without realizing, Albus Severus Potter was placed back in his parent's room. The sun had fallen, yet the room was lit up. Harry Potter had been sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for his son.

The two looked at each other, trying to decide what the other would do next. That's when Al leapt at his father, engulfing him in a bone-crushing hug. Harry hugged back and let his own tears join his son's.

Guilt mingled with relief, causing Harry to pause and sort through the hurried thoughts in his head. His poor child had to see so many awful horrible things. Those horrible things would probably change his whole perspective on life and it was his fault. He had been far too careless as to where he hid the pensieve, especially when it came to Albus.

On the other hand, Harry felt as if this perspective would give his son an advantage over the rest of the wizarding world. They were all naïve and clueless to the horrors of their pasts. Only those who had actually been there would truly know how it was.

Not once did he think of punishing the child though. Harry felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, another thing that made him feel slightly guilty. If there was one person he had wanted to see his story, it was Albus. Finally someone understood.

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**Ta-da! This is the end. I'm so very sorry for how long it took me to finish this. I feel awful. I've just devoted my time to "Life of Lily". In the space of the time I finished "Life of Lily" and wrote this, I took the time to edit the whole story and improved it greatly. My writing felt childish and hopefully I fixed it. This story has been a great ride and I hope you all enjoyed it!**

**-Sweets5236**


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